Omega Insurance Holdings this week posted a 5.5% drop in first half profits. The Bermuda-based insurer reported net income down to $20.6 million from $21.8 million in the year ago period. The fall in profit came despite a rise in gross premiums written, up 1% from $185.9 million to $187.5 million, and an 1.2 percentage [...]
One in ten young drivers aren’t aware that car insurance is a legal requirement, while one in five are taking to the roads without insurance. A quarter of a million 17-20 year olds are getting behind the wheel without insurance cover, according to new figures from the Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB). Drivers in this age [...]
Fortis UK profit fell 27% in the first half of 2009 to £31.7 million despite a 7% rise in non-life premium income. The firm blamed the drop on cold weather in the first quarter which caused a flurry of household insurance claims, coupled with increased personal injury motor claims and lower investment income. Barry Smith, [...]
Specialist insurer Ecclesiastical has posted its interim financial results for 2009, including pre-tax profits of £25.7m, a sharp improvement on the £21.5m loss incurred during 2008. The insurer saw gross written premiums rise by 9% to £229.9m, and general business underwriting delivered a profit of £15.1m compared to a £5.4m in the previous year. Group [...]
Learner drivers could be in line for big savings as the people behind award-winning young driver specialist Young Marmalade have launched Provisional Marmalade to help support learner drivers. Provisional Marmalade is car insurance which covers learner drivers practising in the cars of their friends and family, whilst being supervised. Should any claims be necessary they [...]
JSW Insurance Services Ltd (JSW) has opened a new division (Landlordsure.co.uk) to cater solely to the needs of letting agents and landlords including a complete insurance package created for letting agents. The division consists of all the insurance aspects letting agents need, in one location. Liability cover for maintenance, professional indemnity, office and legal expenses [...]
Insurance broker and risk adviser Heath Lambert has been selected by leading independent health and social care provider Care UK to provide the group with insurance. Care UK has a quarter of a century’s experience providing the elderly, the young, the disabled and sufferers of mental disorders with nursing, residential and community care. In addition [...]
A leading research consultancy is challenging figures provided to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) by the UK’s private motor insurers. Watson Wyatt claims that the sector made a loss of £1 billion in 2008, more than double the amount reported to the regulator. The firm suggests that the £493 million loss reported last year was [...]
Legal & General, in collaboration with reformed burglar Michael Fraser, has released a report entitled The Digital Criminal regarding the use of social media by the public and criminals. According to the report many give away too much personal information over the internet, particularly on social network sites, which is then utilised by burglars to [...]
LV= home insurance has commissioned research revealing that during the last 12 months 8m Britons have given their PIN to friends and family. Younger people are the likeliest to share, with 36% of under-35s admitting they’d asked someone else to use their card. However, 24% of these have subsequently found themselves to be victims of [...]
Three quarters of motorists admit to having been distracted while driving. The most likely distractions include attractive people in other cars, attractive pedestrians, and a “nice view”. Seven in ten men admit to being distracted by an attractive person in another car or on the street, compared with just a quarter of women. “A nice [...]
If insurance brokers are to weather the recession, they must pay close attention to customer needs, Aviva said in a new report. “With customers increasing their propensity to switch, and a higher demand for voluntary excesses and/or reduced cover, brokers with the greatest customer knowledge will be best placed to adapt services and products to [...]
Fortis has announced a pair of senior appointments, with Kurt De Schepper named as chief risk officer, and Antonio Cano becoming chief executive officer of AG Insurance within the new, streamlined management structure. Both appointments are effective from 1 September and require the regulatory go ahead from the Banking, Finance and Insurance Commission (CBFA). Fortis [...]
Keoghs LLP, the specialist insurance law firm, has helped prevent £48m being paid out by the country’s leading insurers on suspicious claims during the course of the last year. The number stands a fifth larger than that of the previous year, a sign of Keoghs’ progress in the field as well as increasing insurance fraud. [...]
Cornish Mutual has secured a new reinsurance deal with specialist insurer, Ecclesiastical. The Exeter-based mutual says the arrangement will allow it to continue providing the highest levels of service and first-class products for its members, while at the same time providing the capacity to offer insurance for larger risks. Managing director, Alan Goddard, comments: “We’re [...]
Specialist motor insurer, Chaucer, has reported a stunning first half with premium income up an annual 38.2%, to £491 million, and pre-tax profit soaring 300% to £17.0 million. Profit before tax and foreign exchange adjustments on non-monetary items stood at £52.6 million, compared with £3.4 million in the same period of 2008. First-half underwriting profit [...]
Global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings (NYSE: WSH) has announced the appointment of Vic Krauze as president of Willis HRH (the North American retail business). Krauze will retain his present position of chief operating officer of Willis HRH and continue to report directly to the chairman and CEO of Willis HRH, Don Bailey. In his [...]
Aviva has reported a significant increase in fraudulent insurance claims during the first half of this year. Fraudulent claims, including fake injuries and inflated car-repair bills, increased by around a third during the six months to June. Andrew Buck, Aviva’s claims fraud manager, speculated that the rise in claims is related to the economic downturn. [...]
This summer was the worst ever for TV ads, according to a Guardian columnist, and insurance companies are responsible. Stephen Armstrong blamed Churchill Insurance, confused.com, gocompare.com, comparethemarket.com, and moneysupermarket.com for an “eye-stabbingly terrible” season of adverts. “Even the previously passable CompareTheMeerkat campaign has started to eat itself, with a tediously unfunny “bloopers” spot,” Armstrong claims. [...]
